


Smile for Once in Your Life

by hesterbyrde



Series: What Carries Weight [11]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Drinking, F/M, Porn, Sex, Spoilers for Season 3, Vaginal Fingering, melinda may's family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:49:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8118754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hesterbyrde/pseuds/hesterbyrde
Summary: “Come on May! Smile for once in your life!” he’d called over his shoulder as he bounded towards the fridge for celebratory libations.She tried to smile. She might have succeeded if she knew what she was smiling about. As it was, she only managed a slight tightening of her jaw.Hunter found her still mid attempt when he pressed a cold bottle in her hand. “Don’t hurt yourself, duck.” he said, his own mouth pulling in a grin. “What is it?”She shook her head, giving up on words and just pressing her lips together rather than saying anythingHunter walked her around to the overstuffed sofa in the bunker’s common area and they both flopped down across it. “Too much to tell all at once, eh.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I promise I haven't abandoned this series! The last season of the show left me feeling really discombobulated about the future of Philinda. And since I'm trying to keep this sort of pseudo-in-canon, I've had the worst case of writer's block regarding it.
> 
> And I also discovered Hannibal, which did nothing to help matters.
> 
> Anyway, this fic in the series is not Philinda. It is the promised Lance/Melinda fic that I started about this time last year and finally figured out what to do with. It takes place around Episode 3x02 and has spoilers for that episode and those previous.
> 
> Many thanks to KaminaDuck for the beta.
> 
> And many thanks to you for reading, for your patience if you've been waiting for me to update, and for your comments and kudos.
> 
> Enjoy!

A crisp knock on the front door of her father’s house froze May in mid slice over the pepper she was dicing for her breakfast. She twisted the knife handle over her palm to conceal the blade against her forearm as she stepped out from behind the counter. Scenarios slid over her mind like oil over water, each more harrowing than the one before, and helped in no small amount by Hunter’s warning the previous day.

“Next time it won’t be me outside the window.”

As she crept to the door, she heard the sound of keys in the lock. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure what scared her more... Ward’s flunkies, or the idea that this was likely either her mother or-

The door swung open to reveal a face that nearly matched Melinda’s, save for a few stray gray hairs framing it.

“Willa?” Melinda made no effort to hide her shock. “What are you doing here?”

“What.” she barked back flatly. “I can’t come to visit my beloved sister and my ailing father?”

“Dad’s fine, and the last time you and I were in the same room together we did nothing but argue about my divorce.” she replied as Willa swept past her, a sizeable suitcase in hand.

“Which, if we want to go ahead and get started on that, I still think was a mistake.”

“Drop it.” Melinda warned, venom creeping into her voice.

“You brought it up.” Willa bit back. “Where’s Dad?”

“Out on the porch. And let me reiterate, he’s fine. We went golfing yesterday.” May replied hotly. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question. I came because I got a call from Dad’s home healthcare nurse.”

“His what?”

“The nurse that comes by here a few times a week.” Willa went on, as she plodded down the hall to the spare room with May right on her heels. “English sounding fellow. Maybe Scottish? Anyway, he said that you were having to take off unexpectedly and I should come. So here I am.” She tossed her suitcase on the bed.

Melinda let a slow breath out through her nose. “Right.”

“Where are you going anyway? Work?”

“Apparently.” she ground out as she returned to the chopping board and resumed dissecting the pepper with new found vigor.

“Still at… whatever agency it totally is no really?” Willa asked, sauntering back into the kitchen. 

“Mm-hmm.” 

“Y’know, Mom had retired by now.” She stole a cube of pepper off the cutting board earning her a withering look from her sister.

“Could say the same of Dad.” Melinda replied. “How’s business in the world of restaurant supply, anyway?”

“Not bad. The economy’s finally turning up so people are gambling on opening new restaurants again.”

“You still get visits from… that guy. You know the one. Don’t act like you don’t. The total science nerd. Glasses. With the bowling shirts. Does the cooking show. What’s his name?”

“I don’t want to talk about him.” Willa fumed. “Last week, he came in shopping for waffle irons. I swear he made me go through the pros and cons of every model in the store before finally going with the one I recommended in the first place.”

Melinda laughed as she scraped the veggies into a bowl of eggs and began to whisk. “I still say he likes you.”

“He’s got a funny way of showing it.”

Melinda smirked at her. “You should ask him out.”

“Hey, if your love life is off limits, then so is mine.”

“Fair enough.” Melinda replied as she poured the eggs into the hot pan behind her. “You want breakfast?”

“No, I’m good.” She answered before giving a moment’s silence. “So, I’m getting the feeling that you weren’t expecting me.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Wasn’t a nurse that called me, was it?” She picked up an orange out of the fruit arrangement on the counter and began absently peeling it with her nails.

“Nope.” Melinda didn’t turn around. “Dad doesn’t have any home healthcare people. Not since I moved in last month.”

“One of your coworkers then?”

“Sounds like.”

“Come on Mel.” Willa pressed with a petulance only a sister could summon. “What’s really going on?”

“They want me back in the field is all.” Melinda shrugged. “I left to see if I could make a life for myself on the outside of everything.”

“And?”

Melinda sighed, leaning back against the counter. “I thought it was going to work. But…”

“Andrew?” Willa supplied.

“I thought we weren’t talking about my love life.”

“You’re the only one who doesn’t talk about it.” she retorted.

Melinda didn’t have a response for that.

“You talk to Dad about it?”

“Mmhmm.”

“What does he say?”

“Basically to get back on my feet again.”

“With Andrew or with your work?”

“Does it really matter?” Melinda asked with a snort.

Willa crossed to her sister, holding out half of her peeled orange. “Not if you have to ask that question.” she replied. 

Melinda smiled at her gratefully as she took it. “You’re probably right. As usual.”

“I’ll take care of Dad for awhile. I’m overdue for a visit anyway.” Willa said. “You go deal with Tea-And-Biscuits at work. He sounds like a handful.”

“You have no idea.” Melinda laughed as she emptied the frying pan into a waiting serving bowl. “He’ll be lucky if I don’t kill him for this stunt.”

“Don’t do anything permanent.” Willa advised shrewdly. “You might be grateful to him before too long.”

***

Melinda had almost not answered the phone when she saw Andrew’s name on the caller ID. She might not have, had Hunter not been in the same room when the call came through. Her choices were either answer Andrew’s call, or deal with Hunter’s questions about why she declined or ignored it. And ultimately the deciding factor was the fact that answering might yield news from S.H.I.E.L.D. about the disappearance of Jemma.

And it had. Andrew told her Fitz had rescued Simmons from the monolith. The look on Hunter’s face when he heard the news had been priceless and, as much as she hated to admit it, made the uncomfortable phone call totally worth it.

“Come on May! Smile for once in your life!” he’d called over his shoulder as he bounded towards the fridge for celebratory libations.

She tried to smile. She might have succeeded if she knew what she was smiling about. As it was, she only managed a slight tightening of her jaw.

Hunter found her still mid attempt when he pressed a cold bottle in her hand. “Don’t hurt yourself, duck.” he said, his own mouth pulling in a grin. “What is it?”

She shook her head, giving up on words and just pressing her lips together rather than saying anything

Hunter walked her around to the overstuffed sofa in the bunker’s common area and they both flopped down across it. “Too much to tell all at once, eh.”

“Yeah.” she said, frowning a little at his surprisingly spot on insight. “I suppose that’s part of it.”

“That’s the problem with keeping it all bottled up. You and Bobbi both.” he said sagely.

Melinda snorted, lacing her fingers together around her bottle.

“It all seems alright for awhile.” Hunter went on after a healthy pull on his beer. “But before long, it’s got way too complicated to try and bring anyone else in. Especially because you can bet your last pair of clean knickers that you’ll have made some stupid mistake that they’ll call you on like you haven’t already been kicking yourself for it for ages.”

She couldn’t really do anything besides nod and take a drink.

“It’s Coulson, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, and it earned Hunter a freezing glare. To his credit he didn’t quail under it. “Don’t look at me like that.” he replied instead. “I know this is a hornets nest, but since you aren’t full of bluster and denial, you know that I know what’s going on between you two.”

“You mean what -was- going on.” she replied sullenly, sinking back against the threadbare cushions.

“What happened?” Hunter asked with a frown.

“I left.” she replied, shrugging as if it were really that simple.

“Yeah, I know. But why?”

“I had my reasons.” she answered before taking a long pull off her bottle.

“See that right there?” Hunter jabbed a finger into her shoulder. “That’s what I’m fucking talking about. Bobbi does it too. Dodges the subject. Acts like it’s nothing or like I won’t be interested. Makes me insane.”

“It’s just not something I talk about.”

“Along with fucking everything else, May.” Hunter whined. “Come on, duck. Look, I kept Coulson’s secrets. I’ll keep yours.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Secrets like what?”

“Like the fact that you’re probably into all that kinky leather stuff.”

“What?! He didn’t tell you that.” she shrieked aghast.

“Scouts honor.”

“What did he tell you? Exactly.” Her eyes narrowed.

“Well, he didn’t tell me anything exactly. I just… inferred.”

“And what did you infer?” she pressed.

“That…. y’know…” he eyed her with some mix of guilt and shame and she waited patiently for him to go on. “Y’know… you’re all into the leather and the whips… that you’re all dominatrixy and shit.”

There was a beat of dead silence during which Hunter saw his life flash before his eyes. He was certain he felt the cold hand of death on his neck for a solid five seconds before Melinda burst into raucous laughter. The sudden and wholly unfamiliar sound actually made the hardened bounty hunter jump with surprise which fueled her cackling even more.

“What?” he complained finally. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh my God.” she howled, quickly wiping tears and trying to return herself to some semblance of coherency. “You think I’m… with Coulson? Have you seen the man?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the man. I’ve seen him with a couple fingers of whisky in his belly and a couple of his fingers in my ass. Wait a minute. You’re telling me that he tops you?”

She nodded, still giggling incessantly. 

Hunter sat back, genuinely stunned, and took another very long drink of his beer. 

“What? It can’t be that shocking.” she laughed, settling back against the couch with flushed cheeks.

“No, you don’t understand. This changes everything. All the while I thought you were the power behind the throne, May! The one really calling the shots.”

“I am sometimes.” she said with an elegant shrug.

“And other times, you’re trussed up like a Christmas goose.” He was shaking his head and blinking slowly. “I can’t even picture it. But you in a leather body suit with a riding crop, now that I can pic-”

“Oh, that’s enough of that.” May blurted slamming her beer back with one hand and flinging a throw pillow at Hunter with the other. He ducked nimbly and crowded himself back into the crook of the arm of the sofa as May pounced on him, pillow in hand for what was the fastest and most elegant pillow fight in the history of mankind. She leapt on him. He wriggled free of her. She pinned him, and he flipped her, momentarily trapping her as the soft cushions didn’t give her much purchase for getting free.

They paused, grinning with their chests heaving like bellows. Hunter felt her give underneath him, just a little, and a knowing look passed between them. He smiled, dropping down on his elbows but not moving otherwise, admiring the rare beauty of the smile on May’s face. “So since you’re not going to handcuff me to the bed, I may have to revise what I told Coulson about making an exception for you.”

“You made an exception for me?”

“Ropes and chains are not a good look on me, love. I’m a delicate flower. I bruise easily.” he replied with a mock pout.

May just snorted as she settled herself deeper into the couch under the press of Hunter’s weight. “What makes you think I’ve made an exception for you?”

“Aside from the fact that I’m not currently a heap of broken bones on the floor?” Hunter laughed. “Besides, duck.” he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “What’s a few beers and a bit of fun between friends?” She shrugged and looked away, so Hunter curled a finger under her chin. “Hey. What’d I say? Smile, for once in your life, Melinda.”

She didn’t smile, exactly. But her expression softened, and for an instant she looked younger and more carefree than Lance had ever seen her. And instead of smiling, she kissed him.

It was a wholly different sensation than kissing Phil. Lance’s stubble rasped across her skin. His lips, plump and pouty, were soft against hers where Phil’s were always seeking and insistent. At first it was jarring, but then the scent of his shampoo and the weight of his body began to saturate into her bones. She leaned back, pillowing her head on one arm and smirked as she watched different shades of utter bewilderment flicker across his face.

“Relax, Lance.” she said, a laugh coloring her voice. “I promise I don’t bite.”

He had to lick his lips a few times before his brain rebooted enough for language. “I’m trying to decide if I should be relieved or disappointed.”

She smiled then, as she hooked her legs behind his knees and tugged him down for another kiss. He came easily, and this time his mouth was hungrily insistent as it moved over hers. His teeth scraped along her lips as if to invite hers out to play, but she merely gave a coy mewl into his open mouth.

“God, you are a soft little thing, aren’t you?” Lance whispered in wonder as he laid a trail of kisses along the hollow of her throat. “I seriously would have never guessed.”

“Don’t tell. You’ll spoil my reputation.” she answered as she arched back to receive them, easy as anything.

“Not a word. Show me what you want, duck.” he rumbled as his hands found her hair. “Last time I had Bob on her back, it was because she was feeling lazy.”

Melinda snorted, a smile tickling the corner of her mouth. “Who says I’m staying on my back?” Two fingers through his belt loops and a slight pivot of his center of gravity sent Lance toppling back onto the sofa cushions, and landed Melinda astride his hips.

Lance huffed out a surprised laugh. “You’re a cunning one.”

“And a minute ago I was ‘soft.’” she teased, fingers busy with his his belt buckle. 

“You still haven’t told me what you want.” he dodged, a cutting grin curling the edges of his mouth.

“I’d like to suck you off, for starters.”

He made a valiant effort to not appear gobsmacked at her honesty. “Interested in a little healthy competition with Coulson, eh?”

She arched an eyebrow as the belt came loose. “He sucked your cock in the safe house? That devil.” she laughed. “Did you enjoy it?”

“You mean was he any good?” Lance teased. “Why yes. Yes, he was. Made briefings really distracting after that.”

“Bet I’m better.”

“I feel I can be an impartial judge of this competition.” Lance said lying back and threading his fingers behind his head as Melinda pulled his cock free of his underwear.

“Such a rough life.” she replied dryly before licking her lips and sucking down his length in one go. 

This was different than with Coulson, too. The smell… the taste… the feel... Lance’s cock was narrower with a soft arch in its length. And it pulsed between her teeth on each downstroke, bouncing the head against the back of her throat as she buried her face in the soft of skin of his belly.

He moaned aloud as she worked him, one arm thrown behind his head, and the knuckle of the other hand fastened between his teeth. It felt strange at first. She was so used to Coulson’s hands in her hair, whether they were there for gentle guidance, or gripping her tresses like reins. Lance took no such pretensions to control, rather choosing to lie back, enraptured by the sensation of her hot, willing mouth on his throbbing length.

It was easier at first, since less girth meant less strain on her jaw, but being able to take his whole length on each thrust took some calculation on when to breathe and when to swallow. And Melinda reveled in the new challenge. Even without any force from her partner, she still could find the edges of that quiet space that sharpened all her senses. She could feel how she was winding him up, tightening her lips and hollowing her cheek on every upstroke and drawing filthy sounds from his slack mouth.

“Fuck… Melinda, Melinda you gotta stop.” he finally gasped, curling up off the couch to push at her shoulders. “Christ, fuck you win! You win!”

She pulled off with an obscene, wet sound, making a show of licking her lips as she raised her head. She watched what the sight of her so debauched did to Lance, his pupils blown wide and his mouth going slack. “I win?”

“Yes! Fuck!” he replied breathlessly. “You win. You suck cock better than Coulson. Though frankly I didn’t think that was possible.”

She hummed through a playful pout of her swollen lips. “Ye of little faith.” she chastised.

“I have plenty of faith.” he retorted with a roguish grin. He grabbed her and rolled them both so they traded places, and he pulled her pants and underwear off with a single smooth jerk. “I want to fuck you… God, can I?”

“Of course.” she purred in reply, kicking her clothes to the foot of the couch and drawing Lance up to lie between her legs.

He reached down to the thicket of black hair between her thighs and traced a single finger over her slit, gasping when the digit came away slick. “Jesus…” he whispered in astonishment before plunging the finger home into the eager, hungry heat of her body. 

She drove herself down onto his hand, wantonly abandoning all pretense of composure. Melinda just sought sensation now. She trusted that since Lance was Lance, she was in good hands, and she was not disappointed. He stroked her with long, curling motions, and his thumb worked in slow circles over her clit. And unlike with Phil, she allowed herself the privilege of gripping his arm and riding each stroke, coaxing the slowly building heat of her pleasure to bubble up as if from a spring.

“Come on, Lance…” she keened, desire coiling tight and low in her hips. She wanted to feel his cock, with its length and its curious curve.

“Say please.” Lance teased, already reaching into his wallet for a condom.

The request, however playful, made Melinda go still for a moment. Her eyes glazed a bit as she thought about Phil, and all the times he’d pushed her down, held her fast, and made her beg. She missed it. His hands. The stillness in her mind. The thrill of false panic at the notion that he might not give her what she wanted.

And she paused just long enough for Lance to start to think he’d overstepped before she arched up, putting her lips against the shell of his ear and whispering, “Please…” before dragging her teeth over his earlobe.

Lance did not need to be told twice. He quickly tore open the wrapper and rolled the condom on before settling between her legs again. She wrapped herself around him, hooking her ankles together behind his back as he lined himself up. He let himself sink into the wet, tightness of her body in a single, unhurried thrust that ended in a languid curl of his hips. They both moaned aloud, pulling each other closer as they reveled together in the moment.

It was Lance that started moving first, just a shallow rocking over her body which met his motions with slow, undulating rolls. His sweetly curved cock perfectly stroked the place deep inside her pussy so that on each thrust, white stars burst across her vision.

“Oh God…” she whined, her voice gossamer thin. She felt as if the air was being punched from her lungs each time their bodies met.

“That good?” Lance asked, his usual cockiness at full tilt, as he steadily drove his cock home over and over again.

She felt a smile curl her lips as she stretched up for a kiss. “Better.”

Lance rumbled his approval as he picked up the pace. The world was going hazy at the edges for both of them as they eagerly ground together. Playful kisses full of gentle teeth and insistent tongues were traded as hands roamed, seeking new ways to hold and caress.

“I’m not going to last much longer, duck.” Lance huffed, his rhythm driving him impossibly deep inside her. He reached between where their bodies were joined and started working her clit again, in slippery circles. “Will you come for me, darling? I’d love to see it.”

Melinda nodded as a fresh wave of sparkling ecstasy washed over her. She dropped back with a keening cry as she rode his cock and his hand. She’d already been close, but his thumb against her clit sent her barrelling over the edge. She came with a breathy whine, grinding herself down against his hand, and squeezing his cock in her inner walls.

“Fuck… fuck…” Lance swore as he watched her come undone. He was quick to follow. His hips grew more erratic until he was holding his throbbing length inside her, his whole body taut and shaking.

They collapsed together, sharing one last kiss before Lance went on trembling legs to deal with the condom. He didn’t seem to know what to do when he got back to the couch, but Melinda welcomed him back beside her, pooling herself along his side.

“Y’know, if you and Coulson ever want to have a friendly competition again, I’m game.” he huffed, his breath still coming in shaky pants.

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time Phil wants to claim he’s a better sharp shooter than me.” She replied with a smirk.

“I’m just going to hope that’s a euphemism.” he replied with feigned apprehension. “Feel better?”

“Mmm… who wouldn’t?” she said, sinking down further into the couch cushions.

“Someone who’s still got a lot on her mind.” Lance answered with rather uncharacteristic pointedness.

“I always have a lot on my mind.” She said, idly fiddling with the collar of his shirt. A long pause followed, and Melinda had to give Lance credit for just letting the moment be. “I’ve betrayed Phil so many times.” she sighed, finally. “Miscalculated and failed him. Lied to him. Long before you ever crossed our path. I don’t… I don’t feel like I deserve him.”

Hunter snorted. “If that’s how you feel, then the two of you fucking deserve each other.”

She smacked him with a couch cushion. “Yeah, but what about Andrew?”

“What about him?” Lance countered, taking a drink of his long neglected beer. “Look May, you’re one of those calculating types who wants to know all the ins and outs and end-games of every situation. Let me let you in on a little mercenary’s secret of the universe that they probably didn’t let you learn in ye olde S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. Things are always going to work out the way they’re supposed to. We can’t stop it. We can only go with it, and adjust around it. And trust me on this one. You and Coulson are like a force of bloody nature. You two are a rule of the universe.”

“I wish I could be so sure.” she said, curling on her side and resting her head on his shoulder. “I mean… one handed or no, he’s off running things without me. Maybe Andrew is the equilibrium. For me anyway. He certainly as a way of popping up now and again.”

Lance snorted. “And disappearing just as quickly. Listen to me on this one. You haven’t seen Coulson since you’ve been gone. Sure, he’s got that one hand quite firmly on the reins, but he’s not the same. He mopes like a sad abandoned puppy.” She arched a disbelieving eyebrow, but Lance quelled it by snugging her closer to him. “I’m not saying I think the two of you are the next Romeo and fucking Juliet. But mark me, the two of you belong together.”

Melinda relented and nodded her head where it laid on Lance’s muscular shoulder. “Is that the real reason you want me to come back?”

“Mostly. That and Bobbi misses you too. She’s had enough of wiping the floor with me in the gym, bum leg or no.”

Melinda had to laugh at that. “Hey Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Not a word of this to anyone.”

“Mum’s the word, duck. Don’t you fret.”

“And Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

He squeezed her tight and dropped an affectionate kiss onto her hair. “Don’t mention it, duck.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you thought the inclusion of Melinda's sister was a tad odd, it's an Easter egg for the show "Good Eats." I was rewatching the show on Netflix awhile back and couldn't keep myself from headcanoning "W" the restaurant supply store clerk as Melinda's sister. So I thought I'd pass my amusement along to you.


End file.
